Muni Funding: Mayor Announces Google Gift to Fund Muni for Youth

Mayor Edwin M. Lee, Board President David Chiu, Supervisor David Campos, Supervisor Scott Wiener and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) today announced an unprecedented $6.8 million gift from Google to fund an additional two years of Free Muni for Low Income Youth. The popular pilot program is currently funded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission through June 2014 and provides monthly free muni passes to more than 31,000 low-income San Francisco youth ages 5 to 17. The $6.8 million gift is one of the largest private contributions towards direct City services in San Francisco history.

"Continuing to provide free Muni for thousands of young people from lower-income households will help make our City more affordable for working families," said Mayor Lee. "With this unprecedented gift from Google, we can keep this successful pilot program running for at least two more years at no cost to taxpayers or Muni riders and free up critical funds for other vital Muni maintenance and services. Google is demonstrating with real action and real resources that they are a true partner in addressing our City's affordability crisis for lower and middle-income families. I want to thank Google for this enormous gift to the SFMTA, and I look forward to continuing to work with this great San Francisco employer towards improving our City for everyone." Read more.